Flappy Bird: The Truth
by Leonidas 69
Summary: ever wondered why you are addicted to Flappy Bird, well why not read the story about two friends conversing in a classroom about Flappy Bird to find out


**Author's Notes: This is my Fan Fic take on Fappy...sorry I meant Flappy Bird, the popular game where the player meaninglessly maneuver their way and guide Flappy on his(or maybe her?) endless unfufilling journey to avoid as many pipes as possible. Well, no offense to the Creator of Flappy Bird as the way he uses psychological principles to manipulate us the players to continue playing and playing Flappy Bird is just wow! It's quite ingenious though plenty of companies and firms have done the same. **

**Anyways, if you have any thoughts do post it, constructive criticism, personal thoughts..etc are all welcomed.**

**So well I guess, Enjoy **

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Flappy Bird, the Truth

Ironic isn't it how such a simple game could be so addictive. There aren't any enemies in game to shoot you down, no end, and no proper storyline which big time games such as Call of Duty or Halo would have. It just features a bird flying and trying not to touch or hit any of the extremely recognizable pipes which everyone knows is a direct rip off of Super Mario. Yet...ironically so many people dedicate their time and lives just for this simple 8 bit game. This is what I thought when I first saw Flappy Bird, it is just a Super Mario rip off. Yet time and time again, everyone that I know of devotedly taps the screen of their smartphones trying in futility to keep Flappy flying and not hitting any pipes.

"Yo check out Flappy Bird man!" Eugene said while opening the app

I just blankly stared in disbelief and quite frankly, amusement

"What? You jelly you no get Flappy Bird when it's still in the App Store" Eugene retorted back in response to my blank stare

"No, no. I'm just amused" I nonchalantly replied back

At this point, I was staring at Eugene rapidly tapping on the screen, only to have Flappy to merely touch a pipe before crashing down.

"You noob!" I exclaimed, pointing at his score of zero.

"You think you so pro, see whether you can beat my High Score then" the frustrated Eugene challenged

I grabbed the bulky Samsung Galaxy Note 2 from Eugene's table and restarted the game. Soon enough, Flappy fell to the ground even before I passed the first pipe. At that moment, an urge to continue playing erupted within me. All I could think of is just to try and try again to bypass all the pipes I encounter. I restarted the game again, only to lose with a score of 1.

"Well, well, guess who's the noob here" Eugene snorted and grabbed the phablet away from me

"Hey, it's my first time ok!" I excused myself as the urge to continue within me begin to dissipate

In all honesty, that is my first time trying Flappy Bird and I could easily see how many people can easily fall prey to this simple 8bit game just by trying it once. It reminded me of lust. When an individual straight male look at a beautiful curvaceous woman with a pretty face, that spark within the soul of the individual begins to ignite. The individual may try to resist not staring at her dedicate curves and angelic face or those artistic breasts that were seemingly crafted by a skilled sculptor. However, the individual would feel a strong urge to stare and stare at the magnificent being within his sight. This is how Flappy Bird exploits its players.

"So? You want Flappy Bird? I can give it to you" Eugene offered

"Nay, I can't have it after knowing the Truth" I replied, declining his offer

"Truth? Is there something about Flappy Bird that you know and don't want to tell me?" Eugene demanded

"You sure, you want to know?" I questioned jokingly

"Yeah man, tell me!" Eugene exclaimed

"Alrighty then, don't blame me if you can't handle the Truth" I disclaimed before sharing the Gospel of Truth

"No man, I won't, just tell me" Eugene replied in desperation to feed his curiosity

With that, I went on to share the Truth about Flappy Bird with my classmate, Eugene.

"People want to have self fulfillment right? To feel good whenever they accomplished something?" I said

"Errm...yeah I guess so" Eugene replied

"Basically anything can be a source of self fulfillment, if someone is hungry and bought a burger and ate it. He satisfies his hunger and nourish his body, fulfilling his need for nourishment to keep his body running. This is self fulfillment within this context. I'm I not correct?" I continued

"Self fulfillment? What's that?" Eugene asked dumbfoundedly

"To sum it up in one word, it is Desire" I answered

"Desire for what?" Eugene inquired deeper

"Desire could be anything just as I explained. You desire Eunice, the girl that sits in the front of our class. You feel an urge, a desire for her that stems from within you. This is a form of Desire and the purpose of it is to drive you to self fulfillment or in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Self Actualization" I replied back

"Dude, I don't like Eunice ok!" Eugene snapped back, blushing

"Really? You sure do like her, I saw you passing her chocolates during Valentine's" I replied

"Bullcrap man, don't mess with me, that was from someone else. I was passing it to Eunice on his behalf. How about that teddy bear Zoe gave you?" Eugene rebutted

"Ermm...she borrowed it from me. She's just returning what's mine" I lied

I quickly tried to return to topic here at this point, hoping to avoid this sharing of the Truth to turn into a childish preschool argument over crushes. However of course, Eugene pestered me to reveal more about that Teddy Bear that I got for Valentine's. This is bad; I never liked sharing personal details with anyone, even friends.

"Do you want to know the Truth about Flappy Bird or not?" I asked, hoping to get that out of the picture

"Well, I do want to know what's up between you and Zoe" Eugene declared

"Guess you don't have to know what Flappy Bird doesn't want you to know then" I threatened

"Hey? How can you do this, I thought we are friends man" Eugene said in shock

"Well, we_ were_" I teased

"Anyways, back to the topic" I continued

I explained Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to Eugene, showing him how we would only want more and more as one need is fulfilled. This is no doubt engrained in human nature and ultimately our common ancestors in their endless drive to pass on their genes. Perhaps it is from this that we all have that endless drive for self fulfillment and self actualization. Of course there isn't any clear definition of Self Actualization and it could differ from one individual to the other.

"So that's why I love Flappy Bird so much and play it" Eugene replied in amazement

I could see the sparkle of awe in his eyes as though he had become enlightened with the light of Truth and found the meaning of life. Eugene ironically however, just started up the app again and decided to play Flappy Bird again much to my dismay.

"Yeah, continue being a slave to Flappy Bird, I prefer to have a free mind" I sarcastically said as he tapped devotedly onto the screen of his phablet

How amusing it is, the human drive for self fulfillment, we are willing to forgo our time and waste our ever scarce resources just for the sake of fulfilling it. No matter how it can be putted, the fundamental fact remains, we are all selfish beings interested in fulfilling our own personal desires in the hopes of reaching self actualization, whatever the means to do so. Amazingly, even me, who knows this could not deny that I wanted to become self actualized too. I wanted Zoe; I had spent sleepless nights thinking about her in both clean and to be honest, dirty ways. All of these selfish needs my mind conjured in the name of self fulfillment and self actualization. This is why people enjoy playing Flappy Bird so much, the score and the sense of Fulfillment garnered from bypassing each pipe and getting higher scores. It all give the player a sense of self fulfillment, motivating the player to play more and more, practically becoming a slave to Flappy Bird, giving its creator more money from the magnitudes of Advertising companies and firms using Flappy Bird as a platform to promote their goods/services. This is an ingenious system indeed and I only have praise to offer to the man who made Flappy Bird as he easily exploited and enslaved millions of players worldwide all because of their endless drive for self fulfillment. I looked around and found my class teacher, Mr Willard on his phone, perhaps slaving away at Flappy Bird just as my friend, Eugene who would see Flappy Bird as his vehicle towards self fulfillment, to self actualize.

This is the Truth about Flappy Bird that they (the creators) don't want you to know so that you the player can continue playing and raking in profits for them through the magnitudes of advertisements that you as the player would come across each time you play Flappy Bird. To many it's a simple harmless game but to those with knowledge like me, it is a tool of exploitation and enslavement and could be undoubtedly harmful just as I have seen on BBC News, how there are an ever growing number of people requiring psychological treatment to curb their addiction to Flappy Bird and to find new alternative and less destructing passages to Self Actualization.

You may not bother to listen to my words but remember this, whenever you play Flappy Bird, there's always some entity happy that you are doing so and mocking you for your gullibility. Whether be it the creator(s) or the advertising companies, you should for the best, put down Flappy Bird and find more fulfilling ways to Self Actualize. I'm using my beloved Zoe as my vehicle to achieve my Self Actualization, whether be it through bonding with her or letting my lewd thoughts about her run wild. This is at least, a much more productive vehicle to self actualization than Flappy Bird, a mere rip off of Super Mario Bros. Well until then, the choice is yours to either take the Red Pill or choose the Blue. I chose the Red pill so what about you?


End file.
